Unbelievable?

Richard Bauckham’s book ‘Jesus and the Eyewitnesses’ has been heralded as a paradigm shift in the way the authorship of the Gospels should be seen. Bauckham argues that the Gospels are based on eyewitness accounts and should be regarded as fundamentally trustworthy. New Testament historian James Crossley discusses the implications of Bauckham's work and whether the Gospel of John was written by th...

Sam Devis is a former Christian and produces a podcast called When Belief Dies. One of the triggers for his faith deconstruction was reading Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Sapiens’ and the consequent questions this raised, particularly around evolution. Andrew Halestrap is emeritus professor of biochemistry and senior research fellow at Bristol University and was previously the national chair of Christians...

You don't have to look far for claims of the miraculous. But what constitutes a ‘miracle’ and do Christian beliefs in this area make sense? Michael Shermer is a well-known atheist in the USA and founding publisher of  Skeptic magazine . He says miraculous claims always have a natural explanation. Adrian Holloway is a London pastor and apologist. He claims to have witnessed the miraculous and says...

Following the pro-Trump riots and storming of Congress at Capitol Hill, many fear white evangelicals in the USA are in the grip of political idolatry in their support of the outgoing president. Justin is joined by Johnnie Moore who chaired Trump’s Evangelical Executive Council and defends Trump’s administration, and Christian justice activist Shane Claiborne who has been an outspoken critic of the...

Atheist Biologist PZ Myers is an outspoken critic of Christianity. He believes that faith in God and science are contradictory. He debates theistic evolutionist Denis Alexander, (now Emeritus) Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion. Is science is at odds with Christianity as PZ claims? They touch on Fine Tuning, Rationality and whether God is an inference to the best explanatio...

It’s often been argued that the prosperity and welfare of Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden are proof that secular societies do better than religious ones.  Christian Lomsdalen of the Norwegian Humanist Association & Stefan Gustavsson of Apologia – Centre for Christian Apologetics in Sweden join Justin to debate the issues. Christian Lomsdalen:  https://lektorlomsdalen.no  ...

Geshe Tashi Tsering has been a Buddhist monk since he was a teenager. He claims that fulfillment in life involves shedding negative mental states and embracing the enlightened understanding of Buddhism. We are the answer to our own salvation. Sunil Shivdasani is a Christian from a Hindu background. He works with Christian Vision for Men. He explains why he believes Jesus is the true way to enlight...

JRR Tolkien was a devout Catholic and friend of CS Lewis. Justin is joined by Michael Jahosky author of ‘The Good News of the Return of the King: The Gospel in Middle Earth’ and Holly Ordway, author of ‘Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle Earth beyond the Middle Ages’. They discuss the Christian themes in Tolkien’s fantasy writing, his friendship with Lewis, and the way their literature portrays the...

Justin explores the key differences in belief between Mormons and Christians as he meets two men breaking the mould of interfaith dialogue. Robert Millet is a Mormon and professor at Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City, Utah. Greg Johnson is a Baptist pastor in the city who founded Standing Together, an organisation aimed at building bridges of dialogue between Mormons and evangelical Chris...

We look back over 2020 and share some of our highlights, favourite clips and lessons we’ve learnt along the way. Plus, author Nick Page debunks some Christmas myths and we hear stories of people who came to faith largely through apologetics. For Nick Page:  http://nickpage.co.uk/ USA listeners check out our new USA website for exclusive resources and to support us:  http://www.unbelievable.show Ev...

Two New Testament scholars go head to head. Michael Bird is a believer, James Crossley is not. They have different conclusions about how the Christian faith began and have written a dialogue in their book ‘How Did Christianity Begin - a believer and non-Believer examine the evidence’. Originally broadcast in January 2009. USA listeners check out our new USA website for exclusive resources and to s...

Atheist blogger Jonathan Pearce is the author of ‘The Nativity: A Critical Examination’. He believes the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke are pious fiction. Christian thinker Lydia McGrew, author of ‘The Mirror or the Mask?’ defends the historicity of the Nativity accounts. Take our show survey: https://survey-star.co.uk/unbelievablechristmas   For Lydia Mcgrew: http://www.lydiamcgrew.com/   L...

Two New Testament scholars go head to head. Michael Bird is a believer, James Crossley is not. They have different conclusions about how the Christian faith began and have written a dialogue in their book ‘How Did Christianity Begin - a believer and non-Believer examine the evidence’. Originally broadcast in January 2009. USA listeners check out our new USA website for exclusive resources and to s...

Renowned Christian philosopher William Lane Craig joins Justin and Ruth for a live-stream show taking audience questions on salvation, God, atheism, evidence, and much more. For William Lane Craig: https://www.reasonablefaith.org USA listeners check out our new USA website for exclusive resources and to support us: http://www.unbelievable.show Everywhere else, subscribe to our newsletter https://w...

Denis Alexander author of 'Creation or Evolution: Do we have to choose?' defends theistic evolution opposite creationist Stephen Lloyd. Originally broadcast Nov 2008. USA listeners check out our new USA website for resources, updates and to support us: http://www.unbelievable.show Support the show from the rest of the world: https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable Subscribe to our new...

Richard Dawkins famously describes the God of the Old Testament as ‘jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully’. Dan Barker and Rev Martin Kuhrt have both published books defending...

In this classic replay Justin interviews Richard Dawkins, John Lennox and audience members following their highly anticipated God debate at Oxford's Natural History Museum in 2008. USA listeners check out our new USA website for resources, updates and to support us: http://www.unbelievable.show Support the show from the rest of the world: https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable Subscr...

In recent years, numerous high-profile Christian leaders have resigned following revelations of moral failure, including Carl Lentz, Jerry Falwell Jr and Bill Hybels. Others have posthumously been subject to allegations of sexual misconduct, including Jean Vanier and Ravi Zacharias (an independent investigation is ongoing). Karen Swallow Prior who resigned her position at Liberty University over t...

Welcome to a new mid-week episode from Unbelievable? bringing you a taste of classic shows from our archive.  In this episode from Nov 2008 Justin speaks to Ariane Sherine who created the Atheist Bus Campaign in London. He's also joined by Paul Woolley and Hanne Stinson. For the full show:  https://unbelievable.podbean.com/e/unbelievable-1-nov-2008-the-atheist-bus-campaign/ USA listeners check out...

In 2005 a high profile trial saw the Dover School District taken to court for promoting Intelligent Design (ID) as an alternative theory to evolution in classrooms. 15 years on Mike Behe a prominent biochemist and ID advocate who took the stand as a defence witness, talks about what the case meant for the ID movement. Joshua Swamidass is a biologist and Christian who is strongly critical of ID. He...

Atheist philosopher Julian Baggini and Christian author Skye Jethani discuss whether the teachings of Jesus Christ can be separated from his claims to divinity. For Julian’s new book The Godless Gospel https://www.julianbaggini.com/the-godless-gospel/   For Skye’s new book What’s Wrong With Religion? https://skyejethani.com/ and his podcast The Holy Post https://www.holypost.com/   USA listeners c...

Justin talks to Jana Harmon about her PhD research on adult atheist conversion to Christianity and presents stories from her new ‘Side B Podcast’. Joel Furches, who is researching de-conversion, also joins the conversation. For The Side B Podcast:  https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-side-b-podcast-jana-harmon-VJUERcA6Fih/ For Joel Furches article on de-conversion:  https://hubpages.com/polit...

Richard Dawkins once said that bringing up children in a particular faith is tantamount to child abuse. We invited humanist Hannah Timson and Christian Tim Alford to discuss this issue.  You can find Tim Alford on Twitter and Instagram at @RevTimAlford. Hannah Timson is on Twitter and Instagram at @timmi12345.  For more on Limitless, you can connect via social media at @LimitlessElim or through th...

Oxford professor Alister McGrath recently joined Justin, Lucy and Ruth for a livestream to take listener questions on science and faith and to talk about his new memoir ’Through a Glass Darkly’.  For 'Through a Glass Darkly':  https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/alister-mcgrath/through-a-glass-darkly/9781529327632/   USA listeners check out our new USA website for exclusive resources:  www.unbelieva...

'Critical Race Theory’ is a way of understanding racism through the dynamics of oppressed and oppressor groups. Neil Shenvi believes its worldview is at odds with the Gospel and is concerned at its embrace in evangelical circles.    Rasool Berry, teaching pastor at The Bridge Church NYC believes many Christians are overreacting to CRT. While not adopting it wholesale, he believes CRT can help Chri...